They may be meeting some of the most influential Senators and Congressmen in America, but the Bermuda Government?s visit to Washington started in very dignified British fashion yesterday.

Premier Alex Scott and his delegation were served afternoon tea under glittering chandeliers in the plush confines of the UK Embassy.

And, in an unannounced move, Governor Sir John Vereker was part of the welcoming party that included the British Ambassador to the US, Sir David Manning.

Talks were held behind closed doors, but it is understood that Sir John had already mentioned to the Premier how Bermuda?s image on Capitol Hill could be raised without rekindling the ?tax haven? debate that dogged the last Presidential election.

Sir John had also asked what help the embassy could give Bermuda in the event of another hurricane striking the Island.

The visit to the embassy signals a high-profile start to Mr. Scott?s Washington mission. Sir David was British Prime Minister Tony Blair?s foreign policy advisor at Downing Street and is now said to take a keen interest in US relations with its close neighbours.

After the embassy meeting, the delegation moved on to a dinner hosted by airlines JetBlue and American and US Airways.

Today?s agenda of ten individual meetings includes talks at the White House with a string of politicians, before they travel to the Senate for further meetings.

Highlights include a conference with Congressman GK Butterfield, whose father was from Bermuda, and Dennis Hastert, speaker of the House of Representatives, who is third in line for presidential succession.